Improvement in driers



J. BUTTERWORTH.

.Driers.

NO. 138,475. Patented May 6,1873.

%M Kimm 4m 62% AM. PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHIC cu. MY (ossomvsk Place-ass) UNITEDSTATES PATENT OEEIcE.

JAMES BUTTERWORTH, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELFAND CHAS. O. BUTTERWORTH, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN DRIERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 138,475, dated May 6,1873; application filed January 24, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES BUTTERWORTH, of. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,have invented an Improvement in Drying-Machines, of which the'followingis a specification The object of my invention is to prevent unequalheating and drying of paper or other material in passing around thecylinders of a drying machine. I accomplish this object by admitting thesteam or hot air into the .opposite ends, alternately, of the successivecylinders A B (J D, 850., of the drying-machine, as indicated by thearrows in the elevations, Figs. 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawing; orby admitting the steam or hot air into the ends of some of the saidcylinders at one side of the machine, and into other of the saidcylinders at the opposite side of the machine, so that the paper orfabric X, which, in passing around one cylinder, may be heated and driedmore at one edge than the other, may, in passing around the nextcylinder, have this operation reversed; and so on through the machine,the action of the whole number of cylinders being thus equalized, and auniform product obtained. I

In drying-machines of the class illustrated in the drawing it has beencustomary to admit steam or hot air through the journals of thewholenumber of hollow cylinders at one side of the machine, and to dischargeit from all of the said cylinders at the opposite side of the machine.It has been found, however, that, by reason of the cooling of the steamor hot air in its passage through the cylinders, the latter areinvariably hotter at the end adjaccnt to the inlet-journal than at theopposite end, the consequence being that the paper or other material Xis heated and dried more quickly at one edge than at the other, thiscausing, with paper especially, unequal contraction, and a frequentrupturing of the material.

Indrying cotton goods, also, it is customary to pass two or threewidths, arranged side by side, around the same set of cylinders; and thedifficulty in such case, in ordinary machines, is to prevent onepiece ofgoods from being dried more than another, a slight but uniform degree ofdampness being essential to the successful performance of the afteroperation of finishing the goods.

7 1 have found thatI can overcome the above objections and equalize theaction of the several cylinders upon the paper or fabric, so as toobtain a uniform product, by reversing the direction of the currents ofsteam or hot air through the several cylinders, so that, while thematerial may be dried more at one edge than at the other in passingaround one cylinder, the action may be reversed in passing around thenext, and so on through the machine.

In Fig. 2,'for instance, the steam is caused to pass through thecylinder A from left to right and through the adjoinin gcylinderB fromright to left; and the same alternation is indicated by the arrowsinFig. 1. Itis not absolutely necessary, however, that the course of thesteam or hot air should be alternated in the several cylinders, asnearly as good results could be obtained by changing the direction ofthe cur rents in sets of cylinders; two adjoining cylinders, forinstance, to have the steam admitted at one side of the machine, and thenext two at the opposite side of the machine.

I claim as my inven tion- A dryingmachine in which there are parallelhollow cylinders, to which steam or hot air is admitted so as totraverse some of the cylinders in one direction, and others in theopposite direction, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAS. BUTTERWOBTH.

Witnesses:

WM. A. STEEL, HUBERT Howson.

